Côte-d’Or: this college is exemplary in its fight against school harassment

How to fight against school bullying, how to reduce this phenomenon? The question is being asked this Thursday, November 7, from schools to high schools on the occasion of National Anti-Bullying Day.
Let’s say it right away, there are no magic recipes, but in Dijon, the Champollion college located in the Grésilles district found solutions. It is even taken as an example by the Rectorate which considers it to be the most advanced on this issue.

“The theme is not new, but we have accelerated it since September 2023, with strong student engagement” underlines Karine Brazey, the principal of the establishment. In this college of 528 students, 18 of them (10 girls and 8 boys) volunteered to be ambassadors in the fight against harassment.

“The Benevolent”

Every Tuesday, during the lunch break, these teenagers take part in meetings to free their voices. “We call ourselves “Les Bienveilleurs”, we received training from an association for listening and mediation. We are here to combat loneliness in college” specifies Manon. Regularly, these volunteers also go for an hour to speak to an entire class. An hour alone in front of other students to discuss this phenomenon, without adults behind them. “This afternoon, we will go to meet the 6th grade classes” explain Apolline and Maëlys. “We’re going to use the thumbs-up. It’s a questionnaire where we put green thumbs in front of the questions to say if we feel good about this subject.” “It’s true that it’s intimidating.” recognizes Maëlys, “but it goes well, and there is respect from the other students.”

Film, leaflet and video to explain

The students are participating in the national competition “No to Harassment”, and have already completed last year a film shot and edited in their college to explain how to react when you are a victim or witness to this phenomenon. “This year, we want to focus on harassers, to understand what pushes them to do this kind of behavior. We have to write the scenario by the end of January” Maëlys explains.

The volunteers also published a brochure which deciphers harassment “Repeated verbal, moral or physical violence, inside or outside the school” they write “and since 2022 it has been an offense punishable by law.“They also made a video with testimonials and advice that you can read by flashing a QR code from your smartphone.

Teachers and parents at their side

These teens are not left alone. Frédérique Lamblot, English teacher, volunteered to be the contact person in the fight against harassment in the establishment. Students can enter it at any time. They can also rely on parental involvement. Christophe Gouin is a former student of this Champollion college, his two children also went through this establishment, and today he is here to raise awareness among parents. “I’m here to relay the actions that are happening here. We haven’t gone very far: there wasn’t a harmful climate before and a good climate today. It’s not the climate that changed, it’s our perception of things. It’s now something that is taken care of on a daily basis, and which is much easier to manage than something that goes up all at once.”

In Burgundy, 3 to 4 calls per day to 3018

According to the Rectorate, each year, 5% of students at the Dijon academy are victims of school bullying, which represents 13,000 children and teenagers from the four departments of Burgundy (Côte-d’Or, Saône-et-Loire, Nièvre and Yonne). To break the silence, whether you are a victim or a witness, there is 3018, a free number. When we compose it, we first come across a national platform, but which very quickly directs us towards a regional referent:Anne-Laure Gauthier has been in place since the start of the school yearand it is she who responds to the victims or families “I receive 3 to 4 calls a day, what I hear are parents who are helpless about their child’s distress. It ranges from stomach aches and bedwetting for the little ones, to suicidal thoughts for teenagers, who even start to scar themselves. One of the challenges is to tell them that they are heard. I pass everything on to the departmental manager who calls the family back within 48 hours and puts solutions in place with the school.”

If you need help, if you are worried or if you are faced with the suicide of a member of your entourage, there are anonymous listening services. The Suicide listen line can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 01 45 39 40 00. Other information is also available on the website of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health. To report any situation of harassment or cyberharassment, whether you are a victim or a witness, there are free, anonymous and confidential telephone numbers: 3020 (harassment at school) and 3018 (cyberharassment), reachable from Monday to Saturday , from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Other information is also available on the website of the Ministry of National Education.